Unexpected
by Dragon Star Empress
Summary: <html><head></head>Moe's daughter went to Japan to meet Marin and Melan and to write a book about Brigadoon, but what she finds is nothing like she expected.</html>
1. Chapter 1

Rebecca stepped off of the plane, smiling as she looked out the airport window and could see Tokyo in the distance, "I'm here mama, I finally made it." she whispered, then went to collect her bags.

Rebecca quickly dropped her bags in her hotel room then stuffed her notebook, tape recorder and camera into a backpack and headed out the door, only hesitating a moment to pull out her Japanese and English dictionary. Opening it she smiled sadly, "I'm finally going to meet them mama, I just wish you could have been here with me." she said as she made sure the picture of two girls and a blue Monomakia was tucked safely inside the book before putting it back in her bag.

A little while later she got out of a cab and walked up to the door of the tenement house that was so familiar to her even though she had only ever seen pictures of it. Taking a deep breath and praying that her Japanese wasn't too rusty, she knocked on the door. A moment later a red haired woman in her mid fifties answered the door, "Gomen kudasai. O-jama shimasu Asagi Marin."_ (_I'm looking for Marin Asagi_)_ Rebecca said.

"Asagi? O-hisashiburi desu no namae ka. Watashi wa Chairo Marin. (Asagi? it's been many years since I've gone by that name, it's Chairo now, but I'm Marin)" the woman replied.

Rebecca's eyes widened, "You got married?" she asked to shocked to think of anything else, then quickly tried to recover, "Aano…Ee…, umm." she stumbled trying not only to figure out what to say, but how to say it in Japanese as well.

"Yes, I got married. Now who are you?" Marin asked in English.

Rebecca relaxed a little, grateful that she wouldn't have to translate everything she wanted to say, "My name is Rebecca Fisher, I'm-"

"Rebecca, you mean Moe's Rebecca?" Marin asked smiling.

"Yes." Rebecca replied.

"Oh it's been years since I've heard from her, didn't she come with you? How is she doing?" Marin asked.

"I'm afraid mama died a few years ago, we wanted to let you know, but we were moving at the time and hadn't been able to find her address book or any of the letters she had gotten from you. Papa finally found them about a year ago, but by then I was already planning my trip to come here and thought I'd just tell you in person." Rebecca told her.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry." Marin said fighting back tears, "How did she die?"

"She never was very healthy, she got pneumonia, between that and her other health problems she just wasn't strong enough to fight it, she died peacefully in her sleep though." Rebecca told her.

"At least she died peacefully." Marin said, "Now what brings you all the way to Japan, last I had heard you were living in the United States."

"I'm becoming a historian and I wanted to do my dissertation on Brigadoon, I've been fascinated by it since I was a child. Mama always use to tell me stories, but there's not a lot of written material about it. I was hoping I could interview you and Melan for it." Rebecca told her.

"I don't know too much about Brigadoon, just bits and pieces that I learned from Melan or while I was there, but I'd be happy to tell you what I know. As for Melan, he's been gone for nearly thirty years now." Marin said sadly.

"Gone? What do you mean, what happened?" Rachel asked.

"I'm afraid I broke his heart, I was so young when everything happened, at the time I was so sure that nothing could change how much I loved him, but I was only thirteen at the time, there was so much to life that I hadn't even thought about, so many complications to a relationship with him that I simply hadn't considered."

"When I was sixteen I met a young man at school, he was a lot like Melan, we became friends and the more time I spent with him the more I started to think about the things that I couldn't have if I were to marry Melan, but I didn't say anything to Melan. How could I? He had given up everything, his friends, his world, everything, to stay with me. But he noticed the change in me and finally asked me what was wrong, I refused to tell him. He finally over heard me telling Jun about David, the young man I had met at school, and he told me he wanted me to be happy, no matter what that meant. Melan stayed for a while, spending most of his time at the library, trying to learn more about humans, trying to figure us out, trying to figure out how best to survive in our world. I think he still hoped that I would get over David and come back to him, at least until David asked me to marry him. Melan stayed for the wedding, but then he left, hiking up into the mountains and living there as far as I know. He comes back to visit, usually for Christmas at least, but that's about the only time we see him." Marin explained.

"The poor thing, did mama know that you had married David? She never said anything to me about that or Melan leaving." Rebecca said.

"Yes, she even met David before your grandmother remarried and they moved to America. She said she'd tell you eventually, but as long as you didn't show any interest in dating while you were still young, who wants to hear a bedtime story with a sad ending." Marin said sadly then smiled, "What about you, last time I heard from Moe you were more interested in books than men, has that changed, do you have a handsome young man waiting for you back home?"

"No, I've never met a man who really seemed worth my time, at least not any who are alive, most interesting men have been dead for hundreds of years. Anyways who needs a man around when I have so much history and so many different cultures to learn about." Rebecca replied.

"Okaa-san, hiru-gohan desu yo." a woman called from inside.

"Lunch is ready, why don't you join us, you can meet my daughters and husband, then I can tell you what I know about Brigadoon." Marin said.

"I'd be honored to." Rebecca replied.

Rebecca sat in bed that evening looking over the notebook full of notes and stories, both of Marin's time in Brigadoon as well as stories Melan had told Marin. It was more than most people knew about Brigadoon, but it wasn't as much as she had hoped for or enough for the book she had planned to write ever since she was a child. The first time she had gone to the library when she was quite young, looking for books about Brigadoon, she had found a few, but they only told about the effects Brigadoon had had on earth, nothing about Brigadoon its self. It was then that she had told her mother that someday she was going to write a book about Brigadoon.

"I know it's been my dream to come here and meet them and write my book for most of my life and that I promised you I'd do it mama, but how can I do that if I can't actually meet someone from Brigadoon?" Rebecca said as she set her notebook on the night stand and turned the light off, "I'd have to come back for Christmas or-" she hesitated a moment a smile slowly spreading across her face, "or go find Melan and talk to him." she said as she flipped the light back on and grabbed her laptop.

* * *

><p>I know I'm a horrible evil person for splitting Melan and Marin up, I love them together, I really do, they're one of my favorite cartoon couples, but this plot bunny attacked me and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Rebecca headed back to the tenement house, "Good morning Rebecca, I wasn't expecting to see you back here so soon." Marin said, smiling when she saw Rebecca.

"Well I need more information for my book and there's only one way I'm going to get it. Do you think Melan would mind having a visitor?" Rebecca asked.

"Oh I don't think he'd mind at all, but I have no idea where he is, he said he's living on a mountain, that's all I know, I don't even know which mountain it is." Marin replied.

"That's alright, I think I know what mountain he's on, I just didn't want to go looking for him and have him not be willing to talk to me." Rebecca replied.

"You know where he is?" Marin asked.

"I think so, according to some research I did, over about the last thirty years there have been a handful of reports of a being in blue armor helping people who were hurt or lost on Mount Fuji. One person even said it was the blue Monomakia that had been seen when everything had been going on with Brigadoon." Rebecca told her.

"It's a huge mountain, how will you find him?" Marin asked.

"Well most of the reports come from the same area of the mountain, so I'll just hike around that area and hope I find some sign of him, if that doesn't work I could always try pretending to be hurt and see if he'll come to me. I've got thirteen days left before I head home, I should have plenty of time to find him." "Learning more about Brigadoon, writing this book has been a dream of mine since I was a child and when mama realized she probably wouldn't survive she made me promise her that I wouldn't give up. I have to at least try." Rebecca told her.

"But it's January, it's far too cold up there at this time of year and who will go with you?" Marin asked.

"I'll go by my self, I'm strong and healthy, I was lucky and didn't inherit any of mama's health problems. And dad and I have been camping, rock climbing, hiking and have been doing all types of stuff like that for as long as I can remember, even in winter. All I need to do is get some supplies together and I'll be just fine on my own." Rebecca said.

"Well if you're sure, is there anything I can do to help you out?" Marin asked.

"Possibly, I was trying to figure out what the best thing would be to do with my stuff that I don't take with me while I look for Melan. Might you have somewhere here that I could leave it until I come back?" Rebecca asked.

"Of course. Now when are you planning on leaving?" Marin asked.

"I still need to buy supplies and let my dad know I won't be at the hotel, so I was thinking first thing tomorrow morning." Rebecca told her.

"You're sure you have everything you'll need?" Marin asked the next morning when Rebecca dropped her things off.

"Yep, dad made me go over everything as I packed it last night, plenty of food and water, cold weather sleeping bag, compass, rope, well stocked first aid kit, plenty of warm clothing, everything I could possibly need." Rebecca assured her.

"You're sure it won't be too cold for you up on the mountain?" Marin asked.

"I'll be fine, I have plenty of supplies and even without supplies I'd be fine. Dad and I went up into the mountains near where we live one winter to find the perfect Christmas tree when I was fifteen and we ended up getting lost when a blizzard unexpectedly hit. We spent two days sleeping in a cave, but we both new how to use what the earth gave us, all we had with us was an ax and a pocket knife. We sharpened a stick to make a spear and dad managed to kill a rabbit, we built a nice fire and it was actually more fun than scary." Rebecca told her.

"Well, I guess you're as prepared for this as anyone could be, just be careful." Marin said.

"I will, thank you for all your help." Rebecca said.

"You're welcome, just try to come back in time to visit some more before you have to go home." Marin told her.

"I will, I was given two weeks off from school to do my research, so I should have plenty of time to come visit again before I have to head home." Rebecca promised as she loaded her backpack into a cab that had just pulled up.

"What on earth was I thinking? Just go hike around a huge mountain and he'll just magically appear or it'll be easy to find him?" Rebecca muttered to herself, "Three days of hiking around aimlessly, I'm freezing, I'm tired and there's been no signs of anything even remotely resembling a Monomakia."

"Maybe I should have listened to Marin when she said it was too cold at this time of year to be up here." she said as her foot slipped on a patch of ice hidden under the snow and she barely managed to keep herself from falling.

Finally giving up on searching anymore that day, as the sun started to set she headed towards a slightly sheltered area she could see a little ways ahead. All of a sudden her foot slipped again and she lost her balance. As she struggled to regain her balance, her heavy backpack wouldn't allow it and she quickly found herself tumbling down a rather steep section of the mountain.

When she finally stopped about twenty feet down the mountain, she was dazed and in excruciating pain. "Okay Rebecca, breath, you're going to be fine." she told herself as she took several deep breaths and struggled to sit up, then had to fight back the urge to throw up or pass out at the sight of her leg. The bone between her ankle and knee had been snapped in two and had torn through her skin and jeans and she was losing a lot blood.

"Okay, I can deal with this, just stay calm." she told herself as she took off her scarf and used it to make a tourniquet above the break.

"Slow the bleeding, gotta set the bone and then get the bleeding completely stopped, and find shelter. There's no way I'm going to get off the mountain before dark, especially in this condition." she said struggling to fight back tears and keep from panicking as she inspected her other wounds which were mostly just a few cut's, scrapes and bruises of varying severity, luckily nothing else seemed even close to being as bad as her leg.

She had landed on a small ledge, to one side was a shear drop off that went down a good twenty feet at least, on the other side was the steep area she had fallen down with some brush growing along it with an area that looked like the rock was hollowed out at least a little ways behind it. Bracing herself for the pain Rebecca carefully dragged herself towards the cliff face. Once she got over to it she realized there was a cave behind the brush. "Okay, found good shelter, now I just have to set my leg." she said as she moved into the cave and inspected some rocks that stuck up out of the ground near the entrance only a few inches apart.

"Okay, I can do this, it's just like when uncle George fell when we were mountain climbing," she told herself as she took her backpack off and pulled one of her spare gloves out of it, "only this time I'm the one who's hurt and there's no one around to help me." she added as she rolled the glove up then bit down on it as she tore her pant leg enough to keep it away from where the bone was sticking through then braced her foot between the rocks. Taking a deep breath she pulled back, crying out in pain as the bone snapped back into place and she blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3

Rebecca moaned as she started to wakeup, the pain in her leg quickly reminding her of what had happened. As she opened her eyes she found that someone had wrapped her up in her sleeping bag next to a fire, as well as bandaging a cut on her forehead, a deep gash on her upper left arm and, from the feel of it, they had also bandaged and put a splint on her leg.

Sitting up carefully she looked around, she was in a good sized cave, the small fire that was burning nearby, giving off just enough light for her to see farther into the cave. To the back she could make out several shelves that had been carved into the wall of the cave, they were filled with books and what looked like a framed picture.

Looking towards the entrance of the cave she could still see just a little light left in the sky, "Okay so I couldn't have been out more than an hour, so where did my rescuer disappear to?" she said as she unzipped her sleeping bag, "Just tell me my rescuer was a Monomakia in shining armor and not some crazy hermit or something." she said between gritted teeth as she grabbed a long stick that looked like it had been left over from splinting her leg and stood up. She hesitated for a moment, making sure she would be able to keep her balance before she slowly made her way over to the shelves, using the stick and the wall of the cave for support.

Rebecca smiled when she got over to the shelves and saw that the picture was identical to one her mother had had. Everyone one who had lived at the tenement house as well as her mother and even her grandmother and step grandfather were in the picture. Everyone looked happy, although her mother had told her the picture had been followed by a tearful farewell for Marin and Moe as it had been taken at the last minute when they stopped to say goodbye on their way to the airport.

"You shouldn't be standing up." a voice said from behind her.

Rebecca turned around as quickly as her leg would allow and couldn't help grinning, "You don't look any different than you do in that picture." she said in awe as she looked at the Monomakia standing in the entrance of the cave, holding two long sticks.

"My kind age far more slowly than humans do." he replied.

"That's what I was told, I guess I was just expecting some change after nearly fifty years. Oh I'm sorry, my name is Rebecca Fisher, I'm Moe's daughter." she said, suddenly feeling completely unsure of what to do or say now that she had finally met him.

"Why were you on the mountain? It's dangerous at this time of year." Melan asked.

"Well my mom use to tell me stories about you and Brigadoon, I wanted to know more about Brigadoon and you're the only one who can tell me about it. Marin said she didn't think you'd mind, so I came to look for you." Rebecca explained as she made her way back over to her sleeping bag and sat down.

"You saw Marin, how is she?" Melan asked.

"She's doing very well." Rebecca replied.

"What about Moto and Anna?" Melan asked.

"Moto had her baby on New Years day, a little girl, she named her Hana Marin. On that same day Roger asked Anna to marry him, so she and Marin are busy planning her wedding." Rebecca told him as she pulled an envelope out of her back pack and handed it to Melan, "Anna said she'd really like you to come to the wedding."

"Her wedding is in the spring, she knows I only come down for Christmas." Melan said as he looked at the invitation.

"She thought you'd say that, she said to tell you that she would be absolutely heartbroken if you didn't come since you came to Moto's wedding. She also said that the fact that Moto's wedding was on Christmas Eve doesn't make any difference, since you were there for Moto's wedding you have to come to hers." Rebecca told him.

"She really want's me there that badly?" Melan asked.

"Yes." Rebecca replied.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to go, it's been a while since I've been off the mountain at anytime other winter." Melan relented.

"Good. Now do you have anywhere that I could get some of this blood cleaned off of me?" Rebecca asked glancing down at her torn and bloody pant leg.

"Yes, there are hot springs farther down in the cave, I'll show them to you." Melan said as he walked over to her and handed her the sticks he had been holding which turned out to be hand made crutches.

"Thank you." she said as she grabbed a change of clothes out of her bag while Melan lit a lantern, then she followed him deeper into the cave.

It was quite a ways down, but luckily the tunnel that lead down to the hot springs gradually went deeper instead having any steep sections that would have made it difficult to maneuver on crutches.

Once the reached the hot springs Melan lit a couple of torches that were stuck into the wall and set the lantern on a ledge, "Do you think you can find your way back by yourself?" he asked her.

"Yes." Rebecca replied.

"Good, I'll be back, we'll need more fire wood." he said before leaving.

Once Melan was gone Rebecca took her clothes off and carefully unbandaged her leg, she was amazed at how well the skin had already healed, "I'll have to ask him about that, I'm sure Marin mentioned that he had some way of speeding up healing time." she said to herself as she slipped into the warm water.

After getting cleaned up Rebecca reluctantly got out of the warm water, got dressed and carefully rebandaged her leg, then grabbing the lantern she headed back up through the cave.

She was about halfway back to the main room of the cave when the lantern light glinted off of something through a small passage way. As she walked closer to the passage she realized that it was mostly blocked with fallen rocks although there was just enough of an opening for her to slip through with her crutches.

As Rebecca slipped through the opening and lifted the lantern to see what it had been reflecting off of she was shocked and horrified by what she saw. It looked like Melan's sword, with the base wedged between two large rocks that stuck up out of the floor, with what looked like ragged bits of long dried skin still attached to the base. Laying nearby on the floor was his gun, looking as if it had simply been sliced off.

Instantly she started to think of things Marin had told her, about Melan saying he couldn't stay on earth because people would be afraid of him and he wouldn't be able to hold her with weapons for arms. When she had gotten married and he had said he would be better off living away from people because he would never be accepted or fit in because of his weapons.

Rebecca turned away from the sight and was about to leave when she noticed what looked like a picture or at least the remnants of one hanging on the back wall of the room. She walked over to it and after a moment realized it was half of a copy of a wedding picture that she had seen when she had visited Marin. The half with Marin had apparently been carefully cut off, leaving only David in the picture that was riddled with what she assumed were dozens of small laser holes. Laying on the floor below it were bits of broken glass from some type of bottle.

As Rebecca turned to leave she froze when she realized Melan was standing in the entry way to the room, "Melan," she gasped suddenly feeling like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have been, "I'm sorry, I just- the lantern reflected off of something and I'm stupidly curious sometimes, I-"

"It's alright." Melan dismissed, glancing around the room briefly as Rebecca came out.

After a while of walking in silence back towards the main room of the cave Rebecca finally broke the silence and asked, "Are you going to be okay if I ask you about your time on earth or would it better if I just focus on what you're life was like before you came to earth?"

"No, it won't be a problem, that back there was just the result of a combination of depression over Marin getting married, blaming my weapons for losing her and Tadashi's going away present when I left, which consisted of two bottles of some type of strong alcohol. I found this cave and then the last thing I remember was shooting up the picture of David and having made it about half way through the first bottle. The next thing I knew I woke up with two missing weapons, a horrible hangover and vowed never to touch anything alcoholic again. But that was a long time ago, I've accepted what happened since then and will be fine answering any questions you might have." he told her.


End file.
